Cover Climate

We can’t fix the climate crisis if we aren’t talking about it

We face an existential threat. Record-breaking heat waves, supercharged storms, crippling droughts and massive chunks of melting ice raising sea levels -- climate disruption is already here. Before the end of this century, it could pose an existential threat even to developed nations like the United States.

We can fix it with a robust climate movement. We have great solutions to prevent the worst harms, but we lack the political will to enact them. We need a bigger, stronger, more diverse, and more mainstream climate movement to win the assertive policies we need, fast.

Better media coverage will fuel a stronger climate movement. A vastly louder, better public conversation will help us build the climate movement we need. Media outlets should be covering the climate crisis and solutions every day. But only 43 percent of Americans report hearing about climate change in the news at least once a month. Only 19 percent report hearing people they know talk about it once a month, and 28 percent say they never hear about it.

We will push news outlets to provide frequent, if not daily, coverage of the climate crisis. That includes the implications for our way of life, the solutions available to avoid the most catastrophic outcomes, and how to adapt to the disruption from global warming that's already locked in.

We are monitoring and holding accountable the outlets that are failing the public – and amplifying the coverage that gets it right!

• Help with multiple rapid-response actions each week.• Write letters to the editor and pitch stories to your local media outlets.• Participate in weekly check-ins, receive ongoing tools and webinars to strength your media activism.• Monitor and report back on climate coverage in your local media.

Featured Reports and Memos

Public Citizen analysis shows that U.S. media have largely failed to connect Hurricane Florence to climate change - even despite an attribution study quantify the impact of climate change on the storm.

Public Citizen examined 15 media outlets covering COPs held between 2010 and 2016. The analysis found that major U.S. media rarely cover some of the most significant international climate demonstrations or the solidarity actions that accompany them in the U.S.

Dr. Michael E. MannDistinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science, Penn State University, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, and Director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center